Tag Archives: March Madness

Let’s Dance!

March Madness is upon us and MAD she is! Three teams from the state of Alabama have been shipped to Upper Siberia as punishment for whatever sins it is that those three teams have committed.Can you say, Spokane? (In my best Mr. Rogers voice). And here’s the kicker. It is the EAST Regional. Washington state is on the WEST coast. What am I missing here?

Evidentially it is the Pod system, that the geniuses at the NCAA have devised, that created this head-scratching predicament. Remember the Led Zeppelin song Dazed and Confused? Sports fans, that would describe my state of mind. Pods are for peas or they’re containers that people rent when they clean out the garage.

Aight! That’s off me chest. Let’s get down to it. In spite of the perceived ineptitude of the NCAA, the Big Dance remains one of “amatuer” sports grandest spectacles. Great fun! And millions of people from around the globe either fret and fume debating who defeats whom or they whimsically fill out their brackets without a second thought. Some enter contests which award prizes and cash. Others dutifully comply and participate in the office pool. I fill out one bracket as does my wife “Paul”. I have only tweaked mine a slight bit since the initial run through it. I had three SEC teams in the Final Four and decided one of those had to go. It was Kentucky. I don’t think the Cats have the defense to make that deep of a run.

Ok! A couple of memories and I’ll share my Final Four and which team I think will win it all.

My earliest memories go back to the year 1961. That was when I began my deep dive into an all consuming passion for sports of every ilk. Football, baseball, basketball, and even a dip into golf. I followed college and professional athletics. I pored over the sports sections of mutiple newspapers. I even followed high school sports in the state of Alabama. The Robert E. Lee Generals and Sidney Lainer Poets rivalry garnered my attention. I was a Lee guy. And, of course, I lived and died with my Auburn Tigers.

I collected professional sports cards, memorizing batting averages, home run and RBI totals, yards rushing and passing, points per game, wins and losses.

Naturally, Auburn athletes were my primary focus. My heroes included Bobby Hunt and Dave Edwards, Jimmy Sidle and Tucker Frederickson, Tom Bryan, Loran Carter, Freddie Hyatt, Tim Christian, and my favorites, the dynamic duo, Pat Sullivan and Terry Beasley.

The earliest in the pro football ranks were Baltimore Colts stars Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry, Jimmy Taylor and Paul Hornung of the Green Bay Packers. And even an alumnus of the University of Alabama was high on my list. The brash young quarterback of the New York Jets, Joe “Willie” Namath.

There is neither the space or time to get into Major League Baseball. Aaron, Musial, Mays, Drysdale and Koufax, Luis Aparicio and Maury Wills (the base thieves), Frank and Brooks Robinson. But my favorite team was the Yankees. And Mickey Mantle was my all-time sports hero. Millions of kids worshipped The Mick.

Before I attrmpt to climb out of this rabbit hole I must give a nod to Bob Cousey, Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Oscar Robertson of the NBA.

And God bless Arnold Palmer. My PGA hero. (Also I do love that iced tea and pineapple juice mocktail !)

Reel ‘er in, Bird.

Yes! The Big Dance! Let’s cut to the chase!

At the earliest she takes me back to the incomparable John Wooden and his UCLA Bruins. Ten Nattys. Adolph Rupp and Kentucky. Both dominant forces in my formative years. Bobby Knight and the Indiana Hoosirrs came along later. How about Dean Smith and his “Four Corners” rolling down Tobacco Road?! Then there was Jimmy Valvano and the miracle his NC State Tar Heels pulled off.

Auburn was pulled off the mat by Coach Sonny Smith with a five year “dance” run beginning in with Charles Barkley in 1984. (We won’t mention my Tigers lost to the Richmond Spiders in the first round). Now Auburn finds itself a basketball school. What Coach Bruce Pearl has done on the Plains speaks ever so loudly and clearly and is, indeed, utterly remarkable.

My Final Four. (I’d LOVE to hear yours!)

From the East! The Auburn Tigers!

From the West! The Arizona Wildcats!

From the South! The Houston Cougars!

From the Midwest! The Tennessee Volunteers!

I have it all boiling down to Auburn and Houston from the hardwood in Phoenix, AZ.

In a heart-stopper! The 2024 NCAA Men’s National Basketball Champions!

The Auburn Tigers!!!

“Well let’s dance, well let’s dance
We’ll do the twist, the stomp, the mashed potato too,
Any old dance that you wanna do
But let’s dance, well let’s dance”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Words / Vol.9 / Football, Baseball and Blessings

The time has changed. The weather has changed. It remains winter, as the vernal equinox has yet to visit us, but spring is within sniffing distance. The forecast for north Georgia is for warm temperatures but it is going to be WET, really wet, this week. But, like a friend said, as I stopped to chat on my walk around midday, we certainly have it better than our friends and neighbors in the northeast. It’s been brutal up there. May you thaw quickly folks!

Baseball’s Spring Training is in full swing and I caught a good bit of the Braves vs. the Nats today. The Braves won, 2-1. It’s not like that matters at this point. All the youngsters are getting a good long look and all will have an opportunity to prove their mettle.

I do hope the Braves’ pitching will remain as strong as it has been thus far. Nine arms combined for a no-hitter this past weekend. That was an odd game. It ended in a 2-2 tie as the game was called after ten innings. They had a shutout through eight today. Good going!

Yes, regular season baseball is just around the corner, but that is not the Big News.

The Big News is… the Auburn Tigers being spring practice TOMORROW. Gus will have a press conference at 11:30 AM CDT and then the burnt orange and navy blue will go about the business of beginning FOR REAL preparation for the 2015 season. YeeeeHaaaaaw!!!

According to early Vegas odds, the Tigers are 4-1 to win the SEC. The Georgia Bulldogs also stand at 4-1 and Ole Miss comes in at 4.2-1. Alabama is favored to repeat at 2-1. Fine.

All of this may be much ado about nothing, in the grand scheme, but it is great fodder for conversation when you live, eat and sleep college football as we do here in the Deep South. March Madness might be about to crank up, but football is what truly captures our hearts and souls 365/24/7.

Speaking of roundball, the SEC Tournament begins, in NashVegas, in a couple of days. The big question is… Can anyone challenge the Kentucky Wildcats? I have heard, and used, the term Mildcats when referring to the Bluegrass State’s flagship school on the gridiron. No one, in their right mind, would refer to their basketball team as such. They are a juggernaut! Their record stands at 31-0 and they are the prohibitive favorite to win it all. I hope they do.

Auburn has no chance to win the SEC Tourney or play in the Big Dance this year. That’s okay, for now, because the future is VERY bright for the Tigers. Coach Bruce Pearl is doing an outstanding job of coaching and recruiting, on The Plains, and I expect them to make a lot of noise soon.

It really is remarkable what Pearl has done so far with the program. Who would have EVER expected numerous sellouts in basketball at Auburn? How about the presence of scalpers at an EXHIBITION GAME?

Incredible!

And how about the promise of Easter?

It seems that resurrection is rearing its head in every aspect of my life. I hope and pray that it is for each and every one of you.

So War Eagle and Go Cats!!!

And…

May God our Father/Mother and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Selah